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Twins-White Sox Preview

Sep 15, 2010 - 5:40 AM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

Minnesota (85-58) at Chicago (79-64), 8:10 p.m. EDT

While the Minnesota Twins know they haven't wrapped up the AL Central just yet, they took a big step toward achieving that goal in the opener of this series with the second-place Chicago White Sox.

The Twins look to increase their lead in the division to eight games when they continue their three-game set in Chicago on Wednesday night.

Minnesota (86-58) improved to 11-5 against the White Sox (79-65) with a 9-3 win Tuesday. The Twins took a one-run lead into the eighth before breaking things open with five runs in the inning.

Joe Mauer had three hits and Denard Span drove in four runs as Minnesota won for the ninth time in 10 games and improved to 5-2 at U.S. Cellular Field.

"Today's over with. We did our job today and now we've got to come back tomorrow and try to do the same thing and hopefully kill their dreams," Span said.

Mauer has especially hurt the White Sox, hitting .435 with 12 RBIs this season. He's 12 for 23 with four doubles and a home run in Chicago.

The Twins will try to push the White Sox further out of contention when they hand the ball to Brian Duensing (8-2, 2.02 ERA).

The left-hander, who is 5-1 with a 2.18 ERA since joining the rotation in late July, gave up one run and struck out seven in eight innings of a 4-3 win over Kansas City last Wednesday.

"He's got good stuff, a very underrated pitcher," the Royals' Alex Gordon told the Twins' official website. "Changeup, slider, fastball, and can throw 'em all for strikes. He keeps you off balance."

Duensing has pitched seven innings of relief against Chicago this season and is 2-0, giving up one run and nine hits in the four appearances. He faced the White Sox three times as a starter last year and went 1-0 with a 2.55 ERA.

That's not a good sign for a Chicago team that has lost five of seven and has scored three or fewer runs in all the defeats.

Manny Ramirez went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts Wednesday and left six on base, including the bases loaded in the seventh. He is 3 for 21 with eight strikeouts in the last seven games.

"We've had our opportunities. We have no one to blame but ourselves for where we're at, but we're going to battle and we're not going to lay down," losing pitcher John Danks said. "We put ourselves in a tough situation, but like I said this team is going to fight until the end for sure."

With its postseason chances fading, Chicago will turn to Gavin Floyd (10-12, 3.91), who is 0-3 with a 7.41 ERA in three starts against the Twins this season.

The last time the right-hander faced Minnesota at U.S. Cellular Field, he gave up six runs and 10 hits - two homers - in 6 2-3 innings of a 6-1 loss Aug. 12.

Floyd didn't have much better success against Detroit on Thursday, allowing six runs and a season high-tying 13 hits over six innings of a 6-3 loss. He is 2-4 with a 5.50 ERA in his last six starts, with opponents hitting .338.

Mauer is 5 for 8 against Floyd this season while Span is 12 for 24 in his career.